For most of today's game, it looked like the Atlanta Falcons might run away with today's game at the Georgia Dome. Behind the improvisational passing skills of Jake Locker, though, the Titans cut what had been a 20-point deficit to six late in the fourth quarter. The Falcons, though, were able to salt the game away and came through with a 23-17 victory.
The Titans had a particularly desultory start. The first drive ended after a third-down pass to Lavelle Hawkins fell wildly incomplete on a miscommunication. The Falcons then converted that possession to a 7-0 lead after three consecutive completions to Tony Gonzalez. A second Titans possession ended on an interception after some miscommunication between Matt Hasselbeck and Hawkins again, and the Falcons kicked a field goal for a 10-0 lead. Matt Hasselbeck converted a third down with the Titans' longest run of the day, a 17-yard scramble, on their third possession, but it still ended in a punt, and the Falcons went up 13-0 on a field goal.
Tennessee finally got on the board late in the first half, after Hasselbeck found a rhythm and passed the Titans into field goal range in the final minute and Rob Bironas hit from 46. The Falcons would extend their lead to 20-3 after marching 80 yards on the first drive of the second half. Roddy White had a big 43-yard gain on a deep sideline pattern, and Michael Turner finished off the drive. 20-3, and the Titans looked D-U-N done.
Matt Hasselbeck would suffer an elbow injury, though, and Jake Locker would come in with 2:57 to play in the third quarter and the Falcons leading 23-3. Marc Mariani had a nice kickoff return out ot the Falcons 48, and on third down, Locker rolled right and hit Nate Washington. Washington spun around to elude two Falcons defenders, and raced to the end zone for a 40-yard touchdown pass. Locker would miss second and third down passes the next time the Titans had the ball and it looked like the Falcons would seal their win with another TD when William Hayes jumped to give them first-and-goal, but Colin McCarthy forced a Michael Turner fumble. On the ensuing possession, Locker rolled out and hit Nate Washington for 17 yards, scrambled for 11 yards on third down, scrambled and hit Jared Cook for what was a 22-yard gain after Cook made a couple defenders miss to convert fourth-and-17, scrambled and threw a jump ball to Lavelle Hawkins, and then rolled out and hit Nate Washington for a four-yard score and a 23-17 deficit with just oveer three minutes to play.
The comeback was not to be, though, as Mike Munchak elected to kick deep and trust his defense and three timeouts to stop the Falcons. Matt Ryan hit Harry Douglas for a first-down, though, and the Falcons could run out the clock.
After the jump, a number of player and other notes:
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The Titans had a particularly desultory start. The first drive ended after a third-down pass to Lavelle Hawkins fell wildly incomplete on a miscommunication. The Falcons then converted that possession to a 7-0 lead after three consecutive completions to Tony Gonzalez. A second Titans possession ended on an interception after some miscommunication between Matt Hasselbeck and Hawkins again, and the Falcons kicked a field goal for a 10-0 lead. Matt Hasselbeck converted a third down with the Titans' longest run of the day, a 17-yard scramble, on their third possession, but it still ended in a punt, and the Falcons went up 13-0 on a field goal.
Tennessee finally got on the board late in the first half, after Hasselbeck found a rhythm and passed the Titans into field goal range in the final minute and Rob Bironas hit from 46. The Falcons would extend their lead to 20-3 after marching 80 yards on the first drive of the second half. Roddy White had a big 43-yard gain on a deep sideline pattern, and Michael Turner finished off the drive. 20-3, and the Titans looked D-U-N done.
Matt Hasselbeck would suffer an elbow injury, though, and Jake Locker would come in with 2:57 to play in the third quarter and the Falcons leading 23-3. Marc Mariani had a nice kickoff return out ot the Falcons 48, and on third down, Locker rolled right and hit Nate Washington. Washington spun around to elude two Falcons defenders, and raced to the end zone for a 40-yard touchdown pass. Locker would miss second and third down passes the next time the Titans had the ball and it looked like the Falcons would seal their win with another TD when William Hayes jumped to give them first-and-goal, but Colin McCarthy forced a Michael Turner fumble. On the ensuing possession, Locker rolled out and hit Nate Washington for 17 yards, scrambled for 11 yards on third down, scrambled and hit Jared Cook for what was a 22-yard gain after Cook made a couple defenders miss to convert fourth-and-17, scrambled and threw a jump ball to Lavelle Hawkins, and then rolled out and hit Nate Washington for a four-yard score and a 23-17 deficit with just oveer three minutes to play.
The comeback was not to be, though, as Mike Munchak elected to kick deep and trust his defense and three timeouts to stop the Falcons. Matt Ryan hit Harry Douglas for a first-down, though, and the Falcons could run out the clock.
After the jump, a number of player and other notes:
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The inactives are out for today's game, and here they are:
ATLANTA FALCONS: LT Sam Baker, WR Julio Jones, DE Cliff Matthews, S William Moore, DT Carlton Powell, C Brett Romberg, CB Darrin Wallse
TENNESSEE TITANS: WR Donnie Avery, DE Dave Ball, DT Zach Clayton, CB Chris Hawkins, C Kevin Matthews, QB Rusty Smith, OT Byron Stingily
For the Falcons, they're missing regular starts Baker, Jones, and Moore, as expecting. For the Titans, I suspected after this week's comments by Chris Palmer that Avery might be inactive, and he indeed is. It's a mild surprise to see all three banged-up linebackers, McCarthy, McRath, and Ruud in, especially McCarthy after not practicing late this week.
Feel free to leave your comments here during today's game or follow me on twitter. no comments
ATLANTA FALCONS: LT Sam Baker, WR Julio Jones, DE Cliff Matthews, S William Moore, DT Carlton Powell, C Brett Romberg, CB Darrin Wallse
TENNESSEE TITANS: WR Donnie Avery, DE Dave Ball, DT Zach Clayton, CB Chris Hawkins, C Kevin Matthews, QB Rusty Smith, OT Byron Stingily
For the Falcons, they're missing regular starts Baker, Jones, and Moore, as expecting. For the Titans, I suspected after this week's comments by Chris Palmer that Avery might be inactive, and he indeed is. It's a mild surprise to see all three banged-up linebackers, McCarthy, McRath, and Ruud in, especially McCarthy after not practicing late this week.
Feel free to leave your comments here during today's game or follow me on twitter. no comments
The Atlanta Falcons are coming off a 26-23 home loss to the New Orleans Saints in overtime. As you may or may not have heard, in the extra session, head coach Mike Smith went for it on fourth down-and-one at his own 29-yard line. The called run failed, and the Saints then took advantage of the great field position for the game-winning score. Before overtime, the Falcons had recovered from a ten-point fourth-quarter deficit to tie the game.
What I saw from the Falcons that game, and the others of theirs I've seen, after the jump.
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What I saw from the Falcons that game, and the others of theirs I've seen, after the jump.
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Thanks to Matt at FalconsBlog.com for joining us for this week’s question and answer exchange. Our questions and Matt’s answers follow, after the jump.
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Back in the saddle again. Player Game Analysis was something I tried a couple years ago, but haven't kept up with where I take an in-depth look at one player's play in a single game.
The one player I wanted to take a detailed look at was rookie defensive tackle Karl Klug. I was skeptical of him when the Titans drafted him, especially because it seemed to be a repudiation of the philosophical direction they were taking with the defensive line. He's particularly light fo a DT at a listed weight of only 275 pounds but has gotten a lot of praise for his work this year, especially as a pass rusher.
Before last Sunday's game against the Panthers, I decided I'd be written an in-depth look at Klug's play that game. Though he wasn't part of the sackfest, he did have a quarterback hit to go along with two tackles, one solo and one assisted, one of those a tackle for loss.
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The one player I wanted to take a detailed look at was rookie defensive tackle Karl Klug. I was skeptical of him when the Titans drafted him, especially because it seemed to be a repudiation of the philosophical direction they were taking with the defensive line. He's particularly light fo a DT at a listed weight of only 275 pounds but has gotten a lot of praise for his work this year, especially as a pass rusher.
Before last Sunday's game against the Panthers, I decided I'd be written an in-depth look at Klug's play that game. Though he wasn't part of the sackfest, he did have a quarterback hit to go along with two tackles, one solo and one assisted, one of those a tackle for loss.
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As we do every week of the season (except the bye week), we'll do a question and answer exchange with a blogger who writes about the opposing team.
What questions do you have about the Atlanta Falcons that you'd like to be answered by a Falcons blogger? Please leave your questions in the comments section and we'll forward them to the answer man. I'll be sending them on Thursday and post his answers here Friday. no comments
What questions do you have about the Atlanta Falcons that you'd like to be answered by a Falcons blogger? Please leave your questions in the comments section and we'll forward them to the answer man. I'll be sending them on Thursday and post his answers here Friday. no comments
Like many Tennessee Titans fans, I was pessimistic about this year's team. There were many visible problems, on both sides of the ball, that were not satisfactorily addressed, if at all, in the draft and free agency. A 6-10 record, the same as last year, seemed probable.
Despite the problems, and several embarrasing losses which further exposed the weaknesses, there's now reason to believe the Titans could actually finish at a mediocre but somewhat respectable 8-8.
The reasons for this optimism, after the jump. no comments
Despite the problems, and several embarrasing losses which further exposed the weaknesses, there's now reason to believe the Titans could actually finish at a mediocre but somewhat respectable 8-8.
The reasons for this optimism, after the jump. no comments
Well, that didn't quite go the way I was expecting it would.
Just as they did in their 2003 win in Carolina, the Tennesee Titans got off to a fast start thanks in part to a turnover and put a stranglehold on the Panthers the rest of the way to turn in a dominating win where they ended up with 30 points. The scoring started early, as after a Panthers three-and-out, Marc Mariani found a lane down the left sideline and romped 79 yards for his first punt record touchdown of the season.
The Panthers looked like they might answer the Titans' score, but Will Witherspoon forced Greg Olsen to fumble inside the Titans' 10 and Matt Hasselbeck went to work. Jared Cook, 18 yards and a first down. Chris Johnson on a flare pattern, 29 yards and another first down. An incomplete to Cook, but then on thrd-and-eight, Damian Williams avoids two Carolina defenders who try to tackle him short of the sticks and goes 43 yards to give the Titans a 14-0 lead. Will Witherspoon sacked Cam Newton the first play of the next series, and the Titans turned good field position near midfield into a Rob Bironas field goal for a 17-0 lead early in the second quarter.
The Titans wouldn't score again for more than a quarter, but it didn't matter because Carolina struggled to move the ball. The Panthers went three-and-out on their next three possessions, missed a field goal at the end of the first half, failed on a surprise onside kick to start the second half, and would only get on board on a field goal after some Hasselbeck-Avery miscommunication resulted in an interception that let the Panthers start a drive in the red zone.
The nominal big story of this game will probably be Chris Johnson's "breakout" performance, as he had 27 carries for 130 yards and the final touchdown, plus 4 catches for 44 yards. To me, though, he looked the same as he has: a lot of ineffective rushes, but when he sees green grass and a defender who won't inevitably tackle him, he can be productive. Kudos instead from me to Damian Williams, who had two 40-plus-yard catches as part of his first career 100-yard game (5 for 107, TD).
For me, the real story of the game was the Panthers abandoning the run and the Titans' defense against Newton. The Panthers ended up with 51 or 52 pass plays and only 12 or 13 rushes. Both DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart averaged more than 4 yards a carry, but they weren't a factor in the offense. Instead, the Panthers threw the ball, and Newton was hurried, sacked, and knocked down, and failed to find receivers when he wasn't being harassed. The pass rush was really a team effort, as no player had more than one sack or one quarterback hit. Guys who merit mention include Jason Jones, William Hayes, Sen'Derrick Marks, and DC Jerry Gray, who called the line stunts and twisted the Panthers couldn't handle and the blitzes that resulted in Witherspoon, Akeem Ayers, and Cortland Finnegan getting pressure.
I don't know that this win means anything in the grand scheme of things, as the Texans have the division pretty much in a stranglehold and the Titans have a steep hill to climb for a wild card berth, but a big win certainly beats a big loss in my book. no comments
Just as they did in their 2003 win in Carolina, the Tennesee Titans got off to a fast start thanks in part to a turnover and put a stranglehold on the Panthers the rest of the way to turn in a dominating win where they ended up with 30 points. The scoring started early, as after a Panthers three-and-out, Marc Mariani found a lane down the left sideline and romped 79 yards for his first punt record touchdown of the season.
The Panthers looked like they might answer the Titans' score, but Will Witherspoon forced Greg Olsen to fumble inside the Titans' 10 and Matt Hasselbeck went to work. Jared Cook, 18 yards and a first down. Chris Johnson on a flare pattern, 29 yards and another first down. An incomplete to Cook, but then on thrd-and-eight, Damian Williams avoids two Carolina defenders who try to tackle him short of the sticks and goes 43 yards to give the Titans a 14-0 lead. Will Witherspoon sacked Cam Newton the first play of the next series, and the Titans turned good field position near midfield into a Rob Bironas field goal for a 17-0 lead early in the second quarter.
The Titans wouldn't score again for more than a quarter, but it didn't matter because Carolina struggled to move the ball. The Panthers went three-and-out on their next three possessions, missed a field goal at the end of the first half, failed on a surprise onside kick to start the second half, and would only get on board on a field goal after some Hasselbeck-Avery miscommunication resulted in an interception that let the Panthers start a drive in the red zone.
The nominal big story of this game will probably be Chris Johnson's "breakout" performance, as he had 27 carries for 130 yards and the final touchdown, plus 4 catches for 44 yards. To me, though, he looked the same as he has: a lot of ineffective rushes, but when he sees green grass and a defender who won't inevitably tackle him, he can be productive. Kudos instead from me to Damian Williams, who had two 40-plus-yard catches as part of his first career 100-yard game (5 for 107, TD).
For me, the real story of the game was the Panthers abandoning the run and the Titans' defense against Newton. The Panthers ended up with 51 or 52 pass plays and only 12 or 13 rushes. Both DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart averaged more than 4 yards a carry, but they weren't a factor in the offense. Instead, the Panthers threw the ball, and Newton was hurried, sacked, and knocked down, and failed to find receivers when he wasn't being harassed. The pass rush was really a team effort, as no player had more than one sack or one quarterback hit. Guys who merit mention include Jason Jones, William Hayes, Sen'Derrick Marks, and DC Jerry Gray, who called the line stunts and twisted the Panthers couldn't handle and the blitzes that resulted in Witherspoon, Akeem Ayers, and Cortland Finnegan getting pressure.
I don't know that this win means anything in the grand scheme of things, as the Texans have the division pretty much in a stranglehold and the Titans have a steep hill to climb for a wild card berth, but a big win certainly beats a big loss in my book. no comments
The inactives are out for today's game as the Titans make their first regular season visit to Carolina since they dealt the Panthers their first loss way back in 2003, and here they are:
CAROLINA PANTHERS: TE Richie Brockel, QB Jimmy Clausen, RB Mike Goodson, CB Brandon Hogan, DT Frank Kearse, LB Jason Phillips, OT Lee Ziemba
TENNESSEE TITANS: DE Dave Ball, DT Zach Clayton, CB Chris Hawkins, C Kevin Matthews, MLB Barrett Ruud, QB Rusty Smith, DT Byron Stingily
No notable inactives for the Panthers. Their only healthy starting linebacker from the beginning of the year, James Anderson, was listed as questionable but will play. Cam Newton was added to the injury report on Saturday with a shoulder issue, but was expected to play and is not expected to be limited at all.
For the Titans, they're down two starters in Ruud and Ball, neither of whom I thought would play. Officially Colin McCarthy gets the start in place of Ruud in the middle of the defense. I'd expect Witherspoon and McRath to be your nickel linebackers, but we shall see. Chris Hope makes his return to the lineup, but Jordan Babineaux is listed as the starter. Nate Washington and Jared Cook both will be playing.
Feel free to leave your comments here during today's game. I'll be chiming in from time to time on Twitter, so give me a follow or send me a message there, plus we'll have our normal recap up after the game. no comments
CAROLINA PANTHERS: TE Richie Brockel, QB Jimmy Clausen, RB Mike Goodson, CB Brandon Hogan, DT Frank Kearse, LB Jason Phillips, OT Lee Ziemba
TENNESSEE TITANS: DE Dave Ball, DT Zach Clayton, CB Chris Hawkins, C Kevin Matthews, MLB Barrett Ruud, QB Rusty Smith, DT Byron Stingily
No notable inactives for the Panthers. Their only healthy starting linebacker from the beginning of the year, James Anderson, was listed as questionable but will play. Cam Newton was added to the injury report on Saturday with a shoulder issue, but was expected to play and is not expected to be limited at all.
For the Titans, they're down two starters in Ruud and Ball, neither of whom I thought would play. Officially Colin McCarthy gets the start in place of Ruud in the middle of the defense. I'd expect Witherspoon and McRath to be your nickel linebackers, but we shall see. Chris Hope makes his return to the lineup, but Jordan Babineaux is listed as the starter. Nate Washington and Jared Cook both will be playing.
Feel free to leave your comments here during today's game. I'll be chiming in from time to time on Twitter, so give me a follow or send me a message there, plus we'll have our normal recap up after the game. no comments
In this week's Q&A exchange, we swapped questions and answers with Corey Sznajder; a Carolina Panthers fan who also happens to run Bloguin's Shutdown Line; a site devoted to the NHL's Carolina Hurricanes.
His blog may be centered upon hockey, but as evidenced by his thoughts regarding Sunday's Titans/Panthers matchup, Corey certainly knows a thing or two about the game of football.
Our questions and his answers...after the jump.
